Success! Sort of.

Well, I got back in the water.  I REALLY didn't want to do it at the last minute.  We had to wait for lap hours to finish at the pool and, while I sat there, I started talking myself out of it.  It really was a completely mental thing.  However, when my instructor signaled that we could get in the pool, I just told myself that I'd try again for a few minutes before walking away.  Lo and behold, it wasn't so bad.  We still had a few skills to do in the shallow pool and, luckily, it was much cooler that day so I didn't get nauseous at all.

Then we had to go to the "deep" pool.  It's just 9 feet deep but that's a big deal when I had been able to stand up and reach air in the shallow pool.  My freak-out tendency was soon overshadowed by the sheer weight of all the gear I was carrying.  As I tried getting out of that pool, every step seemed like it would be my last.  I almost didn't make the last step.  My leg was all wobbly.    I walked to the other pool all bent over; my waist was literally at a 90 degree angle.

To get into the deep pool, we had to learn the "giant stride".  You basically just look ahead and pretend your are going to walk on water.  You take one big step forward...but you sink.  The BCD (buoyancy control device) is inflated though so you pop right back up.  This didn't scare me at all.  What scared me was the thought that the second I lifted my leg to take the giant stride, the other leg was going to buckle under the weight.  It didn't.  Hurray, because that would have been embarrassing.

So that session was pretty weird.  First, we learned how to descend and equalize our ears.  Then we did this thing where you learn how to establish buoyancy by lying on your stomach and breathing in and out.  Ideally, you should go up a bit when you breath in and then lower back down when you breath out.  We got to swim along the bottom for a bit and that was my favorite part.  The good thing is that swimming along the bottom is really what we'll be doing most of the time when we go on real dives.

The last skill of the night...let me rephrase that because it wasn't supposed to be the last skill of the night...so the last skill I tried that night was one were you have to establish buoyancy and just float for a minute.  Sounds easy, right?  It sure looked easy when my instructor demonstrated.  I was feeling pretty confident so I established buoyancy and started floating.  The problem was that my feet wanted to float higher than the rest of me so I started to turn upside down.  I didn't like that so I got all twisty and tried to right myself.  We went back to the surface and my instructor said that a lot of people end up with their feet higher and I should just roll with it.  Mhmm.  So, I tried again...and again I got all twisty and my arms flailed around.  You aren't supposed to do that.  So, I tried one more time, resolved to just go upside down.  This time, it wasn't my fault that I had to abort the mission.  There was some water in my mask and it went straight up my nose.  It's hard not to react when that happens.  So, once more to the surface.

Eventually, we realized that I need a new mask because this one was going to continue to leak.  I really didn't want to go upside down again if I was just going to get water up my nose so I pretty much ended the class right then.  Plus, my calves were cramping like crazy.  Cramping is common when diving because you use different muscles with dive fins than most people normally use.  Great.  You mean I get to cramp at "other" times of the month?

I had done enough skills that I could still do my ocean dive so we did that on Saturday.  I'll write about that tomorrow night.  For now, I'll just say that it was another "success - sort of" experience. 

Ear Wig Out

I may have discovered another reason why I had problems with my dive class last week.  I've been having issues with my left ear.  I felt that there was a lot of wax in there for a long time.  I've been  using those eardrops that sizzle inside your ear for a while and then you irrigate it.  I've done it periodically but I decided to really be consistant since the last pool class.  I have been doing it every day and sometimes twice a day.  

Today, I put in the drops, it fizzed and then I started shooting water in there.  At first, little tiny flecks of wax came out into the water basin.  I know this is gross but it only gets worse...seriously.  I kept doing it and more flecks came out.  I decided to keep doing it until the flecks kind of stopped.  Then the flecks got bigger.  I kept going.

With the next flush of water, something felt weird.  I looked at my left hand which was holding the syringe.  There was this large brown thing laying across my fingers.  I freaked out and dropped it into the sink.  Then I couldn't stop staring at it.  What on earth was this thing?  It was the size of a large tadpole, probably about 1.5 inches in length.  It had a dark brown ball of wax and then there was this tail thing attached to it.  It was the most disgusting thing I could imagine being in my ear.  Well, I guess an actual animal would be grosser but this was pretty nasty.  I had to save it.  Poor Matthew.

So, I showed it to Matthew when he got home and he was amazed how large the thing was.  He suggested I photograph it for the blog but, luckily for you, I decided against it. 

Now, I just have to hope that my ear monstrosity was one of the things causing my nausea in last week's dive class.  I have my fingers crossed!

Pure Awesomeness!

Rainn Wilson did a photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly of different TV characters...MacGyver, Captain Picard from Star Trek, Paulie from The Sopranos and...Xena!

 

Today's favorite thing: 30 Days

I've raved about this show before but I just have to reassert my feelings.  This show is FANTASTIC!  It was created by Morgan Spurlock who also did the film "Super Size Me".  The premise is that people try something for 30 days.  Usually, it involves people who live with their complete opposite for 30 days. 

The season opener this year was one in which Morgan Spurlock works in a coal mine for 30 days.  I love this show because it shows exactly what day to day life is like for the men who work there.  It's a pretty awful job but a lot of the men said they wouldn't do anything else...even though many of them end up with black lung.  It also shows other viewpoints such as coal miners who now protest the tactics used by some of the energy companies for whom they used to work because of environmental concerns. 

The next episode had a retired pro football player who had to use a wheelchair for 30 days.  Again, it was eye-opening to see the crap people in wheelchairs must go through every single day.  It was really informative, though, because I was not aware that quadriplegics have some use of their hands.  I always thought they couldn't use anything below the neck but that's not the case.  Everything depends on where the injury occurs.  In fact, one of the guys on the show who was a quadriplegic, had a tricked out truck and drove himself around all the time.  He was a young guy who dove into a dark body of water...and it wasn't deep enough.  Sad.

The episode last week was probably the most difficult one to watch out of all shows from any season.  It involved a tried and true hunter going to live with a family of PETA animal activists.  They showed some footage that I couldn't watch, like animals being skinned alive for fur.  Some of the most disturbing footage involved dairy farms and the treatment of calves.  It will make you think twice about eating veal or dairy products.

However, the one thing that really upset me was the visit to the local pound.  They showed all the dogs in their cages and I immediately fell for this one grey pit bull.  He was so excited when people would come up to his cage.  I knew he just wanted a family to play with him.  The employee put on his leash to take him for a walk and the dog was giddy with excitement.  He was so dang cute, I just wanted to adopt him.  Then I realized what was happening.  My favorite dog out of the whole kennel was being walked to his death.  I was mortified.  I'm crying right now just thinking about it.   They said that the bigger dogs rarely get adopted because of their cost.   Now, I feel I shouldn't get a Jack Russell.  I should get one of the harder to place dogs.  I do have a certain affinity for pit bulls after watching "The Dog Whisperer" all the time.  There is one well-trained pit bull on the show named Daddy and I LOVE him.  I would take him in a heartbeat if I could have him.

So, despite the horrors and sadness inherent in some episodes, it is still a great commentary on our world.  It teaches acceptance and does it's best to dispel stereotypes.   Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Netflix and I strongly encourage you to add them to your queue as soon as possible.

Diving Dilemma

A few of you know that I am planning to become a certified diver so I can join Matthew in diving at the Great Barrier Reef.  I was really excited about it and we had our first classroom meeting with our instructor on Monday.  It went well and I was feeling pretty confident. 

Then, Wednesday, we had our first pool session.  Matthew did the private class with me since we will be "buddies" when we dive.  He has done all of this before so the instructor really geared everything to me. 

First, I had to do my swim test.  Now, I've been snorkelling many times in recent years but I haven't swam in a pool or done laps since I lived in Brawley, which is a LONG time ago.  I've never been comfortable with freestyle so I chose to do the breaststroke.  I normally have no problem with it.  Well...that didn't work out so well.  By the end of the first lap, I thought I'd have a heart attack.  I knew there was no way I could do 7 more laps like that.  I contemplated switching to the backstroke because I felt like I wasn't able to get a good breath but I decided to stay with the breaststroke.  That lasted 1 more lap...then I had no choice.  I switched to the backstroke and, to my amazement, I did that really well.  I swam completely straight and I was able to breath continuously, which was good because I was really panting.  I didn't remember swimming being such a strenuous workout but I'm feeling it today.  I think I should work that into my normal workout routine.

Anyway, after the laps, I had to tread water or float for 10 minutes.  I thought I'd switch back and forth but I just ended up treading water the whole time and watching some other diving classes do their thing.  There was also a water polo game going on at the other side of the pool.  (It's a big pool.)

Finally, it was time to do some diving skills.  I had to put on a 7mm wetsuit which is what they use in California because the water is pretty cold.  That sucker was thick and it was a little restrictive.  I didn't really like it but I thought I could handle it.  The real problem for me was that it was so tight around my neck.  I felt like someone was lightly choking me the whole time.  We unzipped the suit a little but I still found myself grabbing at the neck and pulling it down the whole time I was in class.  Next, I put on my booties which are the same material as the wetsuit but slightly thinner.  Next was the diving gear.  This is where it got difficult.  It's just a vest but it has a heavy tank strapped to the back of it; a tank that I could barely lift with my arms.  There are also 4 lb weights stuck in the vest so you don't float...not just 1 weight but 6 of them.  That's 24 lbs of weights in addition to everything else.  Granted, the stuff doesn't feel as heavy in the water but you still feel the weight pulling on your shoulders. 

Then it was time to go under.  I put the regulator in my mouth and went down.  I took a breath.  I was fine for a second and then I lost my balance and my tank dragged me backwards.  I was completely helpless like a bug that gets flipped on it's back and it's little legs just flail in the air.  That was me but I was in the water and I was starting to freak out a bit.  Keep in mind that the surface of the water was probably only 12 inches above me but I couldn't get to it.  I had the regulator in my mouth so I wasn't going to drown but I didn't like that I had absolutely no control over my situation.  My instructor finally got me upright and I managed to stay on my knees after that.

We did a few more skills and some were easier than others.  I had a problem with the one where you take your mask off entirely for 1 minute and then put it back on.  It seems easy but, in diving, your nose is inside your mask.  For some reason, the second my mask was off, I felt like I couldn't get a breath.  On the third try, I realized that I had to hold my nose in order to last that 1 minute.  It wasn't good.  I felt like it was a cop out...and it only got worse from there.

I soon started to become aware that I was experiencing some nausea.  Eventually, it was so bad that I had to stop and take off the tank and vest.  I thought just getting all of that weight off would help but it didn't.  We unzipped the back of my wetsuit and it helped because the cool water rushed in.  I should mention here that our gauges include temperature.  I know it wasn't accurate because it said the outside temp was 78 degrees earlier and it was probably only 70.  Still, even with a 10 degree error, my gauge in the water said 100 degrees.  Let's assume it was only 90.  When I opened my suit, the water felt cool.  That should tell you how hot it was inside my suit.

I think I was overheating at the same time that I was swallowing air.  Eventually, I was so nauseous that I just had to be out of that suit.  I walked over to the cold showers and stood under it for a second and then I went in the ladies locker room and just pulled and tugged the upper half of my wetsuit off.  I sat in there for a while just trying to cool down and calm down so the nausea would pass.  It wouldn't.  I knew it wouldn't no matter how long I waited.  I knew it was over.

I went back and told my instructor that I couldn't do any more that night.  She knew I was talking myself out of the class.  We cleaned up everything and she said we could come to a class she was teaching today if we wanted so that we could finish the skills I would need before I could do an ocean dive.  Let me just say that the thought of an ocean dive at that moment was probably right under skydiving on my list of things to do.  There was no way it was going to happen.

All the way home, I just laid in my seat.  I felt completely spent.  I had to take a shower when we got home to get the chlorine off me but I could barely make it through my shower.  Matthew and I were both pretty tired so we just went to bed.  Neither of us slept well that night.  Matt had insomnia but I couldn't stop thinking about diving.  When I'd sleep, I'd dream about diving.

Did I want to try again?  That was the dilemma.   All day today I went back and forth.  Yes, I want to try again.  I was just overheated.  I won't have to do the swim test next time so I won't increase my body heat before we even start.  We will only have a few skills in the hot pool and then we can move to the deep, cool pool.  I'll take charcoal so it will absorb any air that I swallow.  But, I always swallow air and I can only take 1 dose of charcoal a day.  What's going to happen when I have 2 or 3 dives?  Am I going to be nauseous again and then I'll be on a boat so that will make it worse?  Was I just overheated or was I having a panic attack?  

You see the mind games going on in my head.  Aside from all of that, I was disappointed in myself.  I really want to dive in Australia and I know Matt doesn't want to dive with strangers. I was angry at myself for giving up so easily but the remembrance of how I felt physically barred me from thinking of diving as enjoyable.  You know when you get sick after eating something and then you can't eat that thing ever again? 

This lasted most of the day.  Finally, I talked to Matthew and I realized that I had to try again.  If it doesn't work out next time, well, at least I be able to say that I tried.  I will be disappointed in myself always if I just give up after one time.  So, we have our last classroom session on Monday and then I'm going back to that pool on Wednesday.

Wish me luck!!!

Today's favorite thing: King Leo Dark Chocolate Crunchy Patties

There is a King Leo candy store near our house in Julian.  I never stopped in there because I was "trying to be good".  But, last weekend, my Aunt Mary Sue had a box of these little drops of goodness and I had to get some.  They are basically peppermint patties that have little pieces of peppermint candy within the chocolate.  Yum!